News that Cooke Aquaculture is hoping to expand their fish farm in Liverpool Bay has some residents worried.
Brian Muldoon has lived in Beach Meadows for 4 years in a home overlooking the current fish farm.
He placed a sign at the end of his driveway asking concerned people to meet at his house and 30 people showed up.
Muldoon says automated feeding means there will be few new jobs created.
“They say they bring jobs to the area but now they don’t need those people manually going out and feeding them every day.”
Muldoon doesn’t believe those jobs should outweigh the health of the bay.
“Unfortunately these company come into these rural towns and wave the old ‘we’re going to bring employment to your area’ and unfortunately the councillors are short sighted.”
He held a one-man protest in downtown Liverpool last week and intends on continuing his protests at a public meeting October 30.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Keith Colwell says the department is committed to sustainably and responsibly growing aquaculture while protecting the environment.
Cooke has been granted an option to lease by the province, which means they are permitted to explore potential sites in Liverpool Bay.
They’re the first salmon-aquaculture company to do so since new regulations came into effect in 2015.
The company has six months to choose a site before it expires.
Cooke announced they plan to look at doubling their capacity in Liverpool Bay at a council meeting last week.
According to Cooke, staff will be on hand to discuss a variety of issues at a public consultation October 30.
The event takes place from 4 to 7 p.m. in the community room at Queens Place Emera Centre.
Story by Brittany Wentzell
Twitter: @BrittWentzell
Email: wentzell.brittany@radioabl.ca